Methods for production of carbon and hydrogen from natural gas and other hydrocarbons

ABSTRACT

A method for producing elemental carbon and hydrogen gas directly from a hydrocarbon (for example, natural gas or methane) using a chemical reaction or series of reactions. In an aspect, other materials involved such as, for example, elemental magnesium, remain unchanged and function as a catalyst.

BACKGROUND

There is a need to develop new methods for producing elemental carbonand/or hydrogen gas. There is also a need for processing thehydrocarbons produced from shale gas which are not easily condensed (forexample, methane).

U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,847 describes a process for the production ofhydrogen and carbon from methane. Magnesium can be used as a moltenmetal to facilitate the process. However, high temperatures are needed.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,995,115 describes a process for the production ofhydrogen and carbon from methane by thermal decomposition including useof catalysts such as Ni_(x)Mg_(y)O or Ni_(x)Mg_(y)Cu_(z)O.

US Patent Publication 2008/0263954 describes a process to converthydrocarbons to hydrogen and elemental carbon. MgO can be used as acatalyst carrier.

US Patent Publication 2008/0210908 describes a process to converthydrocarbons into hydrogen and carbon using microwaves and ironcatalyst.

See also, “Hydrocarbon Production by Methane Decomposition: A Review,”Abbas, et al., Int. J. of Hydrogen Energy, 35, 3, February 2010,1160-1190.

See also, “Hydrogen Generation by Direct Decomposition of Hydrocarbonsover Molten Magnesium,” Wang et al. J Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical283 (2008) 153-157.

See also English Abstract, Doctoral Thesis, Ke Wang, Hunan University,December 2009, “The Preparation of Hydrogen over Molten Metal and theSynthesis of Methyl 3,3-Dimethylpropionate over Homogeneous Catalyst.”

See also, Serban et al., “Hydrogen Production by Direct ContactPyrolysis of Natural Gas,” Fuel Chemistry Division Preprints, 2002,47(2), 747.

See also, Abbas et al., “Hydrogen Production by Methane Decomposition: AReview,” Int'l J. Hydrogen Energy, 35 (2010), 1160-1190.

No admission is made that any reference or description provided hereinis prior art.

SUMMARY

The disclosure provides for methods of producing elemental carbon andhydrogen gas directly from a hydrocarbon such as natural gas (forexample, methane) using a chemical reaction or series of reactions. Inan aspect, other materials involved, for example, elemental magnesium,remain unchanged and act as a catalyst. The temperature of reaction isselected so that the desired reaction can occur under the desiredconditions.

One aspect provides for a method of producing elemental carbon andhydrogen comprising reacting at least one molten metal with at least onehydrocarbon at a temperature sufficient to melt the metal, wherein saidreaction produces elemental carbon and hydrogen. The temperature to meltthe metal can be varied depending on the metal, and the optimaltemperature can be reviewed and selected. For example, the temperaturecan be, for example, 10° C. to 500° C., or 10° C. to 250° C., or 10° C.to 100° C. above the melting point of the metal. The metal can be, forexample, magnesium or lithium. While the reaction and invention is notlimited by theory or mechanism, the reaction can occur via a carbide orsesquacarbide intermediate.

In one embodiment, the hydrocarbon is a gas at 25° C. and 760 torr. Inanother embodiment, the hydrocarbon is a liquid at 25° C. and 760 torr.In another embodiment, the hydrocarbon is a solid at 25° C. and 760torr. In another embodiment, the hydrocarbon is methane.

Another aspect provides for a method of producing elemental carbon andhydrogen by reacting elemental magnesium with a hydrocarbon at atemperature range of about 600° C. to 1000° C., wherein the reactionproduces elemental carbon and hydrogen.

In other embodiments, the reaction conditions for the processesdescribed herein occur at temperatures above about 600° C., above about650° C., above about 700° C., above about 750° C., above about 800° C.,above about 850° C., or above about 900° C. In yet another aspect, thereaction conditions for the processes described herein occur attemperatures in a range from about 600° C. to about 950° C., from about600° C. to about 900° C., from about 650° C. to about 950° C., fromabout 650° C. to about 900° C., from about 700° C. to about 950° C.,from about 700° C. to about 900° C., about 650° C. to about 1,000° C.,or from about 700° C. to about 1,000° C.

In yet another aspect, the reaction described herein takes place in asingle vessel and/or a single process step. In other cases, multiplesteps occurring in multiple vessels can be used.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Introduction

U.S. priority provisional application Ser. No. 62/289,566 filed Feb. 1,2016 is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 14/213,533; 14/772,629; and 14/886,319are hereby incorporated herein by reference in the entirety.

References cited herein can be relied up for enabling disclosure.

The term “comprising” can be substituted by the term “consistingessentially of” or “consisting of.”

The terms “sesquicarbide” and “sesquacarbide” are used hereinequivalently. Sesquicarbides contain the polyatomic anion C₃ ⁻⁴ andcontains carbon atoms with an sp1 hybridization. Two examples ofsesquicarbides are magnesium carbide (Mg₂C₃) and lithium carbide(Li₄C₃).

Sesquicarbides are of particular use for the preparation of sp1 carbon.One can produce Mg₂C₃ in the laboratory by bubbling methane throughmolten magnesium metal under an inert argon atmosphere at over 750° C.Other hydrocarbons such as pentane May also be used. Also, moltenmagnesium (Mg) reaction is another area of chemistry where little hasbeen conducted. Research in molten Mg reactions have been limitedbecause of the dangers associated with molten Mg, especially with theprocess generating hydrogen gas as well.

Hydrocarbon

However, a process very similar to the synthesis of the magnesiumsesquicarbide can be used to convert methane directly into carbon in theform of graphite and hydrogen gas. In one embodiment, methane can bebubbled through a molten solution of metal, such as Mg, and optionally ametal salt such as magnesium chloride salt. In one embodiment, whenheated to a temperature of, for example, over 750° C. under an argonatmosphere the elemental metal, such as Mg metal, and metal salt, suchas MgCl₂, both melt to form a liquid solution. In one embodiment,similar to the Mg sesquicarbide synthesis, the hydrocarbon such asmethane is bubbled through the solution to produce either MgC₂(magnesium carbide) or Mg₂C₃ and hydrogen gas that can be collected as avalue added product. The carbide then reacts with the metallic saltbased on the original chemistry of the carbon producing carbidereaction. The Mg₂C₃ and MgCl₂ are converted to elemental carbon in theform of graphite, elemental Mg metal and MgCl₂, which would remain aspart of the liquid solution. Therefore, the Mg metal and MgCl₂ saltwould remain unchanged throughout the overall process while the methanewould be converted to pure carbon and hydrogen gas.

Thus, the disclosure provides for a method for producing elementalcarbon and hydrogen gas directly from a hydrocarbon such as natural gas(methane) using a chemical reaction or series of reactions. Thedisclosure also provides for a method for producing elemental carbon andhydrogen gas directly from natural gas (for example, methane) using achemical reaction or series of reactions in a single vessel.

Molten Metal and Molten Magnesiuim

In an aspect, other materials involved, for example, the metal such aselemental magnesium, remain unchanged and act as a catalyst. The metalcan be purified in advance to, for example, remove metal oxide. Forexample, the magnesium can be pre-treated to remove MgO. The magnesiumcan be loaded into a crucible, such as an alumina crucible, which can bethen loaded into a high temperature reactor such as, for example, a hightemperature stainless steel reactor. Elemental lithium can be also used.

Reaction Conditions; Temperature of Reaction

The temperature of the reaction can be sufficiently high to melt themetal and drive the reaction to produce desired products. In an aspect,the reaction conditions for the processes described herein occur attemperatures over about 800° C. In another aspect, the reactionconditions for the processes described herein occur at temperaturesabove about 600° C., above about 650° C., above about 700° C., aboveabout 750° C., above about 800° C., above about 850° C., or above about900° C. In yet another aspect, the reaction conditions for the processesdescribed herein occur at temperatures in a range from about 600° C. toabout 800° C., from about 700° C. to about 800° C., from about 750° C.to about 850° C., from about 800° C. to about 900° C., or from about600° C. to about 1000° C. The temperature can be greater than themelting point of magnesium chloride, which is about 714° C.

In an aspect, the elemental magnesium and magnesium chloride areincluded as catalysts for the methods described herein.

Magnesium carbide can be formed by reacting magnesium with methane orother hydrocarbons, for example pentane. This reaction is below (SchemeI):

In an aspect, this scheme is considered a method for generatinghydrogen. The literature suggests that magnesium acetylide disassociatesto produce elemental carbon and magnesium sesquicarbide. At highertemperatures, magnesium sesquicarbide disassociates to produce elementalmagnesium and elemental carbon as described in Schemes II and III.

Reactors can be used as known in the art. For example, FIG. 1 shows adiagram of an exemplary magnesium carbide reactor set up.

In the reaction described above, methane is used as both a source ofhydrogen and subsequently a source of elemental carbon. In anotheraspect, another hydrocarbon, for example ethane, propane, butane, orpentane, is utilized. Potential reactants can also include polyethylenewaste materials, plastics, rubbers, or heavier hydrocarbons, forexample, waxes. One example of a series of reactions is formation ofMgC₂ or Mg₂C₃, which can then be reacted with a metal halide such asMgCl₂ to produce elemental Mg metal, elemental carbon, and product MgCl₂by the reaction below in Scheme IV.

In the overall chemical reaction series, the elemental Mg and MgCl₂remain unchanged and the methane is converted directly to elementalcarbon and hydrogen gas. In an aspect, a salt or salts can be added toreduce the melting points of components in the blend. Magnesium has amelting point of about 648° C. while MgCl₂ has a melting point of about714° C., but the mixtures can make a eutectic with a significantly lowermelting point. In an aspect, the disassociation of the Mg carbides toelemental Mg and elemental Carbon can also be facilitated by the saltpresence.

Isolation of Product

Methods known in the art can be used to isolate and characterize thereaction products, including the hydrogen and the carbon reactionproducts.

Applications

The disclosure further provides for a method of using methane or otherhydrocarbon materials to produce hydrogen gas by utilizing a methoddescribed herein. In an aspect, amorphous carbon is produced by suchmethods and may be used in supercapacitors. The disclosure furtherprovides for a method of utilizing hydrocarbon materials, for example,waste polyethylene to produce a stream of hydrogen gas.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides for a method for convertingmethane directly to carbon and hydrogen gas by heating MgC₂ until itbecomes the sesquicarbide, Mg₂C₃, and elemental carbon, for example, asshown in Scheme II. If the sesquicarbide is further heated, it candisassociate back to elemental magnesium and carbon, for example, asshown in Scheme III. In an aspect, the role of the magnesium appears tobe a catalyst because it comes out of the reaction sequence that sameway it started—as elemental magnesium.

Once the sesquicarbide is formed it can be reacted with a proton donorto produce methyl acetylene. Methyl acetylene can be run through acatalytic cracker to produce trimethyl benzene that is a high octanegasoline. In an aspect, this is accomplished by reacting sesquicarbidewith methanol and reacting the methyl acetylene in a zeolite catalyst.In yet another aspect, the magnesium methoxide can be regenerated byreacting it with hot methane to produce methanol for recycle andelemental magnesium. Some of the excess hydrogen produced can be used inthe catalytic cracker to produce other desired products.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides for a method of utilizing aredox reaction or galvanic or electrolysis reaction to oxidize a carbideanion. In an aspect, the anion is a sesquicarbide anion and when it isoxidized it produces a polymer that is sp1 in character. In yet anotheraspect, the polymer that is sp1 in character is superconductiveincluding superconductive at low temperatures.

The Oxidation of Carbides Anion:

The disclosure also provides for the oxidation of carbide anions toprepare elemental carbon in the form of acetylene black. In an aspect,the acetylene black can be used in supercapacitors. Acetylene black isprepared in the art by the following reaction (Scheme V):

The reaction in Scheme V can be considered an oxidation of the carbideanion as the chlorine atoms pick up electrons from the carbide anionwhile the silicon atoms remain as +4 ions. At the temperatures thisreaction is run the silicon tetrachloride volatilizes leaving behindpure carbon. Should an electrolysis cell be utilized, at very lowvoltages, acetylene black can be produced in a manner that is useful forsuper capacitors.

In an aspect, the disclosure provides for the production of carbon blackor acetylene black by utilizing the methods described herein.

In this aspect magnesium sesquicarbide is oxidized with one or more lowmelting point halide salts. In an aspect, the cation of one or more lowmelting point halide salts exhibits a relatively low oxidation potentialso that not much energy is required to reduce that cation to itselemental state. When that reduction occurs the sesquicarbide anionwould be oxidized to the elemental state. Accordingly, the elementalcarbon would retain its sp1 character and be in a polymeric chain inwhich all or substantially all of the atoms are bonded in sp1hybridization or the carbon could be in a flat plate like structure inwhich the middle carbon would be an sp1 state while the terminal carbonswould be in sp2 configurations. In an aspect, the polymer produced fromsuch a reaction exhibit superconductor characteristics

In an aspect, the disclosure provides for a method of oxidizing asesquicarbide anion, for example, a magnesium or lithium sesquicarbideanion, wherein the sesquicarbide anion is oxidized with a low potentialsuch that the oxidized anion retains its hybridization as sp1. Inanother aspect, the disclosure provides for a method of oxidizing asesquicarbide anion, for example, a magnesium or lithium sesquicarbideanion, wherein the sesquicarbide anion oxidized with a low potentialsuch that the oxidized anion retains its hybridization as sp1 and thatthe resulting material is a linear chain polymer. In yet another aspect,the disclosure provides for a method of oxidizing a sesquicarbide anion,for example, a magnesium or lithium sesquicarbide anion, wherein thesesquicarbide anion oxidized with a low potential such that the oxidizedanion becomes a blend of sp1 and sp2 material. The disclosure furtherprovides for a method of oxidizing a sesquicarbide anion, for example, amagnesium or lithium sesquicarbide anion, wherein the sesquicarbideanion oxidized with a low potential such that the oxidized anion becomesa blend of sp1 and sp2 materials in the form of flat plate structures.

In laboratory experiments, a 400 ml Parr reactor was fitted with analumina crucible. The solid magnesium ribbon was placed inside of thealuminia crucible and sealed inside of the reactor.

The Parr reactor with its lid and attachments was placed in aprogrammable oven that could easily obtain a Temperature of 750° C. Thegas cylinders and other reactants were placed outside the oven that washoused in a hood for safety reasons. A weighted quantity of Mg turningswas placed in the crucible. The top of the reactor was modified so thatan aluminia lance tube could be immersed to near the bottom of themagnesium turnings. The top of the aluminia lance tube was fitted into aSwagelock fitting. The other end of the Swagelock fitting was fitted toa stainless steel tube. A length of stainless steel tubing was woundinto a coil and placed in the oven so the gas would be preheated beforeit flowed in to the molten magnesium. The other end of the tube wasattached external to the oven and hood to the blending stage for theorganic reactants. In another port in the top of the reactor was fixedto another stainless steel tube that served as the exit port from therector. That tube exited the oven and oven where it was chilled to coolthe exiting gas before it entered the Erlenmeyer flask. This wasattached to a large Erlenmeyer flask that served as a ballast tank. Anexit port from the Erlenmeyer flask went to a bubbler so the gas flowthrough the system could be monitored. In one iteration of the systemthe argon was bubbled though a heated (T=35° C.) vessel of pentane. Thepentane was twice the stoichiometric ration need for compete conversionof the magnesium to magnesium sesquacarbide. In a second iteration ofthe system pure dry methane gas was blended with argon gas and bubbledinto the molten magnesium. In both cases magnesium sesquacarbide sampleswere prepared. Only very small samples of the sesquacarbide wereproduced. In order to do the proposed experiments the experimentalsystem will have to be upgraded but the chemistry remains the same. See,for example, FIG. 1 for a reaction system.

1. A method of producing elemental carbon and hydrogen comprising reacting at least one molten metal with at least one hydrocarbon at a temperature sufficient to melt the metal, wherein said reaction produces elemental carbon and hydrogen, wherein the molten metal is molten lithium.
 2. (canceled)
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the hydrocarbon is a gas at 25° C. and 760 torr.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the hydrocarbon is a liquid at 25° C. and 760 torr.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the hydrocarbon is a solid at 25° C. and 760 torr.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the hydrocarbon is methane.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature is in a range selected from the group consisting of from about 600° C. to about 950° C., from about 600° C. to about 900° C., from about 650° C. to about 950° C., from about 650° C. to about 900° C., from about 700° C. to about 950° C., from about 700° C. to about 900° C., from about 650° C. to about 1,000° C., from about 700° C. to about 1,000° C.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature range is about 600° C. to about 950° C.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature range is about 650° C. to about 900° C.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature range is about 650° C. to about 1,000° C.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature range is about 700° C. to about 950° C.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the reaction takes place in a single vessel.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the reaction is carried out with a metal halide also present.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the reaction is carried out under continuous conditions.
 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of isolating the carbon. 16.-18. (canceled)
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein the reaction occurs via a carbide intermediate.
 20. The method of claim 1, wherein the reaction occurs via a sesquacarbide intermediate.
 21. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature is 10° C. to 500° C. above the melting point of lithium.
 22. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature is 10° C. to 250° C. above the melting point of lithium.
 23. The method of claim 1, wherein the temperature is 10° C. to 100° C. above the melting point of lithium. 